David Hegarty who raped three women in Cork has been released from prison after qualifying for an early release.

The Cork man was sentenced to 13 years in 2009 by Judge Paul Carney, who stated he would have considered jailing him for life, saying: “the women of Ireland have a constitutional right not to be raped".

David Hegarty, who according to the Irish Independent, is now living in a hostel in Dublin, raped two female students in 1998, he was jailed for 10 years in 2000.

He was then released from prison early before going on to rape his third victim, a foreign national, only two years later.

Earlier this year, he automatically qualified for 25pc remission on his 13 year sentence and is now back on the streets a free man, under a 10-year supervision order.